A/N: If you didn't read the description, This will be an AU where Sabito comes back to life somehow. I didn't think this through TwT. It is a one-shot and Sabigiyuu. I made it because it was something I wanted to read it and nobody else had made it yet. Enjoy, if possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tomioka Giyu POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giyu Tomioka had been sent on a mission.
This was not a surprise. The hashira had to be sent on missions as much as possible, assignments usually ended earlier and with a lower death toll that way.
What he didn't understand was how he hadn't caught or at least seen this demon yet.
It wasn't a uppermoon, it wasn't even a lowermoon, but many slayers had been sent after it and they hadn't returned.
It was after losing many fellow slayers had they decided to send a hashira.
But he had been chasing the scent for weeks, not resting or eating much, but still not finding the demon. He was really sleep-deprived and hungry now. He just wanted this mission to be over so that he could return back, and possibly have some simmered salmon with daikon. It was the end of the second week now, sustaining himself only through short naps and small lunches. He had also caught another human scent a few days earlier, but he decided it was not worth worrying about. After all, they could already be dead. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
This is why Sabito would have been better. He reminded himself glumly. Sabito had been the type to try and save any life, even at the cost of his own. The thought of Sabito drew darker, more painful memories from the back of his mind. His death, His sacrifice, the genuine smile he would give after training-
The slayer took another shaky breath in. He had to focus. Although Sabito would have been the best option for the empty Water Pillar seat, he was dead. He would just have to reserve it for Tanjiro, who he was sure would become powerful enough to entirely eclipse Giyu. Tomioka would then be free from the pressure of being a false hashira.
It was nighttime. Giyu moved swiftly through the trees, legs aching but finally getting closer to the scent of the demon after so many fruitless efforts before. He cautiously closed in on the shadow on the ground, ripping through the tree branches onto the mossy floor with sword drawn-
It was dead.
The demon was dead.
Standing on the not yet dissolved body was the shadow of a slayer. Something was slightly familiar about him. The set of his shoulders, the way he stood and sheathed his sword-
Giyu took a startled breath in.
The salmon pink hair and the haori they shared.
Surprised by the noise, the slayer turned around, ready to draw his sword again, only for his hand to fall limply by his side, eyes wide and staring in disbelief as he looked at Giyu. There was no denying it now.
It was Sabito.
But it wasn't. It couldn't have been. It's the demon blood art, Tomioka told himself. You have to kill it. Anger flared inside of him. You must kill it for dishonoring Sabito. He pushed himself forward, blade ready to slash across its neck-
"Giyu?"
The blade point stopped right underneath Sabito's chin. With the smallest flex of his fingers, Tomioka could draw blood. He took a breath in. His hand was shaking.
"Don't Move."
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sabito POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't Move."
Sabito was startled by the tone of his old friend. And he looked so much more grown-up now. Sabito only remembered the crybaby Giyu, but obviously, he was gone. He was a man now. Sabito wanted to drop his sword and hug him. He wanted so badly to explain he didn't know how he survived. He had gotten away from the demon in the final selection with a head wound, re-entering training under a different sensei, but missing his old friend all the same. He didn't make any new ones. He couldn't. He missed Giyu. But now wasn't the time to be reminiscing. He had to convince Giyu he was alive.
"Wait." He pleaded. Sabito put his hands up in surrender. The blade began to steady.
"Wait. Giyu, Giyu it's me. It's Sabito. Don't you remember me?"
Giyus gaze faltered. It was quick, but Sabito had known him long enough to recognize the brief flash of pain that was quickly covered up by cold indifference.
"You are not Sabito. Sabito died." Short, and brief. So unlike the Giyu he knew. It pained him to see his friend so different. So cold.
He forced a small laugh.
"I didn't. I promise. I can still remember the look you had on your face at the final selection when I rushed off at that fat, green demon. It's real. Yuu, I'm alive."
Giyu was having a crisis. Sabito could see it on his face. He was struggling with whether to believe him or not. Sabito knew from experience to just let him decide. Interrupting his train of thought right now would mean death.
Finally, Giyu moved.
He made a quick, decisive cut across Sabito's arm, and then the blade was back at his throat.
Sabito's eyes widened. He moved so fast and so easily. His eyes could barely follow the movement. This was the product of harsh, relentless training. Sabito suspected as much.
As the sting of the shallow cut started to get to him and the blood ran down his arm, he realized why Giyu cut him.
To check if it would regenerate.
It was such a flawless way to check if he was a demon or not.
But, Sabito reminded himself, he knew Giyu was careful and smart. He often found the most efficient way of doing something, also finding the least casualties possible.
When the cut didn't heal, Giyu's eyes widened in confusion. Sabito could almost hear his mind scrambling for possibilities.
Sabito cried out when Giyu's katana turned and landed on its owner.
"STOP!!" He screamed, desperate to get Giyu out of danger.
The danger of himself.
Giyu was muttering under his breath. Sabito could only catch a few words.
"Sabito...
Alive..?
No...
But yes...
Blood Demon Art...
Must be...
Tanjiro told...
Dream..."
Sabito realized that Giyu thought It was a Dream Blood Demon Art.
And to wake himself up...
Sabito moved, quicker and more desperate than he ever had before.
As soon as he was within range, he grabbed Giyu's katana hand and forced it away from his general direction. He must have twisted too hard, because the katana clattered from his grasp and fell onto the ground.
Sabito exhaled a sigh of relief. Giyu now had no means of hurting himself.
Grabbing both of his wrists in one hand and forcing Giyu's chin up with the other, He pulled the ravenette against his chest and made him look directly into his eyes.
Sabito was taken aback. The eyes that were looking at him so coldly before now looked unbearably desperate and unfocused, trying to find a logical solution to what he saw. Tears welled up in the corner of his eyes.
"GIYU!" Sabito shouted, now just trying to get Giyu back under control.
The deep blue eyes began to regain focus. The muttering stopped. In one shaky breath, Giyu asked,
"Sabito?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comment if you want a part two!